The Twilight Zone Is Definitely Getting Rebooted Again

One of the most legendary series of TV history has to be The Twilight Zone, which mastered the art of anthology television. The show tackled a variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, psychological thriller, suspense, and scares. Episodes rarely ended on a happily-ever-after, and there were often morals of the stories. Now, The Twilight Zone is getting the reboot treatment from a major network: CBS.

The latest Twilight Zone reboot will be launched by CBS on its streaming service, CBS All Access, which recently experienced a big boost in popularity thanks to the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery. It seems that the network intends to continue providing subscribers with genre content on All Access. Variety reports that Jordan Peele of Get Out is in talks to join the project as executive producer. Marc Ramirez would serve as showrunner.

News of the reboot comes after CBS has had The Twilight Zone on the backburner for quite a while. Last year, the project seemed to be moving forward under the guidance of X-Men bigwigs Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg, with Limitless showrunner Craig Sweeny on board as well. It had not yet been announced whether that version was intended for airing on broadcast or being released via streaming. The new reboot does not have Singer, Kinberg, or Sweeny attached.

The original Twilight Zone aired in black and white for five seasons from 1959-1964 on CBS. The first reboot also aired on CBS, premiering in 1986 and running for a grand total of 110 episodes. The third reboot was less of a success, airing on UPN in 2002 and only lasting for 43 episodes. A Twilight Zone feature film was produced as well, back in 1983.

It should be interesting to see how audiences respond to The Twilight Zone on a streaming service. Netflix has found huge streaming success with the genre series Stranger Things, but Netflix and CBS All Access are quite different when it comes to streaming. Netflix releases full seasons all at once, to the delight of binge-watchers everywhere. CBS All Access is much like Hulu, in that it releases individual episodes on a regular basis rather than all at once. The new Twilight Zone presumably won't be binge-able for folks who want to watch from the beginning, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Other horror anthologies are quite successful in the weekly release format, as the ongoing American Horror Story franchise proves.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and be sure to check out our breakdown of the reboots and revivals that we're super excited about. If you're now in the mood for some Twilight Zone, you can find full seasons streaming on Netflix and Hulu. For your other options for small screen viewing, take a peek at our fall TV guide.